Commercial Contamination: The Economic Development of the Spanish Publishing Industry, 1960-2000

Commercial Contamination: The Economic Development of the Spanish Publishing Industry, 1960-2000 Christine Henseler is Associate Professor of Spanish at Union College and Associate Director of Academic Programs. Her areas of expertise are in contemporary Spanish narrative, women's studies, book publishing, visual culture, media and cultural studies. Her book publications include Contemporary Spanish Women 's Narrative and the Publishing Industry (University of Illinois Press, 2003) and En sus propias palabras: escritoras españolas ante el mercado literario (Ediciones Torremozas, 2003). She is currently working on a volume of essays with Professor Randolph Pope catted'Generation X Rocks: Music, Television and the Revision of Reality in Contemporary Peninsular Literature. The relationship between media and public is complex, but what is certain in our postmodern world is that all events that 'matter' are media events. (Storey 10) Discussions concerning the Spanish book industry in the 1990s and the twenty-first century revolve around issues of culture and commerciality, value and visibility, high and popular art. Constantino Bértolo and Julio Péñate in "Novela, público y mercado" pessimistically paint a picture in which a collective social whole is reduced to the voice and noise ofthe market, and literature is reduced to "una suma de productos cuya única finalidad es satisfacer los deseos inmediatos de los consumidoies. Una industria de tomar y tirar, una forma más de consumir el ocio" (281). They are not alone in their gloomy view on the publishing industry. Juan Goytisolo believes that, "La omnipotencia de los medios de información de masas y la promoción de la mercancÃ-a más zafia y vendible contaminan el campo crÃ-tico al punto en que se confunde el valor de una obra con el griterÃ-o que se arma en torno a ella" (qtd. in "Cuestionario" 27). Javier MarÃ-as claims that a book's function has been reduced to: la de anuncio de la editorial, la de ocupación de un espacio cada vez más disputado y cada vez más escaso en las librerÃ-as. Esto me parece terrible para el libro. Tal vez pueda hacerse esto con pasta de dientes. El mecanismo de éxito quizás pueda realizarse con los botellines de cerveza; se prueba con un botellÃ-n de color rojo a ver si le gusta al público y a las dos semanas se ve que no, que Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies Volume 9, 2005 150 Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies a la gente no le gusta beber cerveza en botellines rojos, pues se prueba entonces con uno verde, (qtd. in Pfeiffer 98-99) The problem that the contemporary author faces, clarifies Spanish novelist Rosa Montero, "es que a menudo ese mercado es demasiado ruidoso, contamina demasiado la relación entre el autor y el lector, e incluso la relación entre el autor y su obra." Montero believes that the market is manipulative, loud, and omnipresent. Every writer, she says, feels the existence ofthe fashions and forces of the industry. The obligation of a writer is to resist these pressures and to be on guard "para no caer y no perderte." The title of this article, "Commercial Contamination ," serves to echo the many voices that are concerned with the status of the contemporary literary scene in relation to the globalizing development and influence of the publishing industry. My purpose is to provide an overview ofthe economic and political coordinates that have contributed to the so-called "crisis" ofthe culture industry ofthe late twentieth century. I examine how publishers' political games, business ideologies, and approaches influence the perception that today's book market is commercially contaminated.1 Spain's publishing industry began to take shape in the 1960s when it became apparent that the literary market was not being satisfied. Rafael Martinez Ales, General Director of Alianza Editorial, claims that during this time period there existed an intellectual constituency that was ready to fill the managerial positions necessary to build up the market and a political and economic situation favorable for investments . Changing educational factors such as obligatory schooling and the opening of libraries increased the awareness ofthe book. A glimpse at foreign industries provided examples of...